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Studio C Beta
Studio C gave the entire CEC showroom a major facelift. The old fashion look of the Existing Stage showrooms started to disappear in favor of these modern, movie studio-like stages instead. All new stores opening since 1998 received the Studio C treatment, and it was Corporate's wishes to have all Existing Stages updated to Studio C as soon as possible. Then, they ran into a problem. Rather, a problem with the costs. You see, to tear out an Existing Stage and build a brand new Studio C costs a lot of money. So it was decided back in 2001 to put a temporary stop to the Studio C replacement of Existing Stages. Which made many fans of the MMBB and CEC Stage very happy of course. But that wasn't the only cost problems. The Studio C stage is very expensive to build and maintain. You might be asking yourself how the heck can a one-character, one-stage show be expensive? Well, look at the set-up. You have a lot of lighting effects, you have the Interactive Console, you have the entire set-up on Chuck E's stage with his desk, Bird, and city-scape backdrop...etc, etc. This is a very costly set-up...not to mention it had many problems early on. As explained in my Studio C "Alpha" review, there were many problems with that desk...in some shows, if your character was a little off, it would brush its hand up against the desk which caused major wear and tear. Not to mention little kids cannot see over the desk, and they would constantly climb the structure to see Chuck E. Other things became un-necessary (such as the character of Bird) when it was decided too expensive to create different showtapes for Existing Stage stores, and the Studio C stores. Plus there were so many lighting effects to keep track of. The ceiling fiber optic tubes (Robocolors) could burn out one day, and the Warp could burn out the next. This is bad for technicians...especially since tech's main focus is in the gameroom. So in 2001, a downsized version of Studio C was created and put in new stores with a more basic set-up - with less lighting effects and some much needed improvements. And this new Studio C became known as "Beta", while the old set-up is now referred to as "Alpha". Difference between Alpha and Beta Now let me explain the differences between Alpha and Beta, and what the Beta set-up looks like. Then we'll get to the juicy stuff. First of all, the most noticable difference between the two is the central area (between the Blue Screen Stage and Chuck E's Stage). You will notice three flatscreen TV monitors compared to the big-screen monitor of Alpha's. These flatscreen monitors are really great...and truly show off the vibrant colors and all from the dvds. Surrounding these three flatscreen monitors are different colored rope lights. Next, you will notice there is no Interactive Console under the monitors. If you haven't read my Alpha review, the Interactive Console was a play thing for kids where you can press buttons that will do different things, such as control the cameras around the restaurant, and there was even a hook-up to the official CEC website. But in Beta, this play area is deceased...and personally, I am glad to see it gone. Here are my reasons: 1) The character voices can get very loud and obnoxious...especially when kids press them over and over repeatedly. 2) The buttons always jammed, and the rolling mouse for the website would always break. 3) The console sticks out and gets in the way if you are dancing for Live Shows (I've ran into it and hurt myself plenty of times as a costume character). Plus, we could be doing a Live Show, and kids would be behind us playing on that thing and we would knock them over. 4) If you let kids play with things, they will trash and abuse it. Then they think it is okay to go and trash other things, such as the character stage and blue screen stage. So, as you can see, I have never been a fan of the Interactive Console, and I'm glad it is gone with Beta. Replacing the Interactive Console are little windows that have Chaser Lights in them. It is a really cool effect, and a worthy replacement to the Interative Console...at least you can do a LIVE Show without worrying about the console behind you. Now let's check out that Blue Screen Stage. Nothing much has changed from the previous Alpha version, except that the area is much smaller now. There are only two walls, too...compared to Alpha's three. The third wall blocked off the blue screen area from the rest of Studio C...and you couldn't see Chuck E from in there. The wall was also used for Chuck E's Star Search (karaoke), and housed the big screen monitor and stuff for the Interactive Console for Alpha. But in Beta, you can see Chuck E perfectly well from the blue screen area. Another cool thing to note is the carpet. The carpet is very brightly colored and says 'STUDIO C' all over it. Very cool! The Blue Screen Stage still has the blue screen and camera, so you can participate in the show. The walls are very colorful and goes well with the more edgier look of Beta...and there is even a mural of Chuck E on the furthest wall. The other big difference is that there is only one monitor in the area instead of Alpha's two. In fact, the number of monitors for the show has been dramatically lowered. You have the three main monitors in the center, one in the Blue Screen Stage, one on each side of the Beta set-up, and only one (maybe two in some stores) monitor(s) in the gameroom. This is a major change from Alpha...which had TV's everywhere. I think the big reason why there aren't so many is because Beta doesn't exactly have the Alpha 'movie studio' theme anymore. This is very noticable from Chuck E's Stage (which I'll talk about later) and the entire look of Beta. Another reason why is that new stores have a more open showroom. There are no major walls separating the rest of the restaurant from the showroom, except for a waist-high wall. Okay, now let's talk about the lighting effects on the ceiling. The first major difference (other than no monitors) is that there are no fiber optic tubes scattered about the room. This was a neat effect for Alpha, but they burn out fast. Another difference is the colored lights...there aren't as many with Beta as there is with Alpha. There are only two to three sets of these lights compared to Alpha's four to five. Next, the Gemini (double-sided disco-ball) is located in the showroom instead of the Blue Screen Stage. The Warp, the Roboscans, the Applause sign, and On Air sign return in Beta...and that's about it for the lighting effects off stage. It doesn't seem like much, but these are the best effects from Alpha afterall. And less lights makes maintenance much easier. Finally, let's check out the most important area of Studio C: Chuck E's Stage. The first thing you will notice is that there is no desk. What I consider the biggest problem of Alpha didn't make it in Beta...who'd have thought? Next, the Chuck E animatronic is sporting his 'Cool Chuck' clothing...which is the blue shirt with the big yellow 'C', and light brown khaki shorts. This costume is neat and makes Chuck E seem more relaxed and kid-like instead of his more dressy suit from Alpha. It goes well with the look of Beta. Next, you will notice that the stage is much, much different than Alpha. Not only is the desk gone, but so is the green apple TV, Bird, Pizza Phone, and the window with the cityscape background. Instead, we have a much more edgier design in the stage background, with a flashy looking spiral and many more rope and chaser light effects. The only thing returning from Alpha to the Beta stage is the Pizza Time Clock, the strobe light, the colored lights, the red-purplish curtains, and Chuck E (of course). Also, the carpet is the same from the Beta blue screen area...the colorful 'STUDIO C' carpet. In all, Chuck E's Beta Stage looks very cool. Much more hip and edgy than the late night show look of Alpha. The entire set-up goes well with the more colorful style of new CEC stores. If not mentioned above, everything else from Alpha returns to Beta...including the touch screen panel and dvd system. History But now let's get to the juicy stuff. First, although it looks hipper and edgier than Alpha...you cannot shake off the fact that it does indeed look downsized. At least with Alpha they gave attention to detail for the entire set-up...but with Beta, they painted the un-necessary areas black. Although the character and the flatscreen monitors look expensive...the rest of the set-up looks cheap and half done. Another problem I have is with Chuck E's Stage...seriously, it looks too big for one character. I can picture an average guest checking that stage out and wondering if there was something there next to Chuck E but was taken out. It looks a little too roomy, and very inviting for kids to get up on. Secrets *Before Beta, it was rumored there was going to be a five character Studio C. *Right when Beta first premiered, there was already a rumor going around that the 34 movement character of Chuck E would be downsized to about 16 movements. Brian Hagen confirmed this rumor, and new stores with the Beta stages now receive 16 movement animatronics. Some of the movements missing include Chuck E's ear wiggle, foot-tap, eyebrow movements, nose up, and much, much more. It doesn't look that bad to an average guest, but to a long time fan like me it is very noticable. *Small-town stores get their own version of "Beta" - which we refer to as " *Small-town stores get their own version of "Beta" - which we refer to as " Cappa"-and it looks just like the Beta set-up except for missing curtains and lighting effects. " - and it looks just like the Beta set-up except for missing curtains and lighting effects. Category:Stages